


It's A Long Ways To California

by Dimik_Gimik



Category: Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Genre: 1850s, Alternate Universe - Western, Gabriel is Pink's name, Lester is Brown's name, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Outlaw!Larry, Period-Typical Racism, Rancher!Freddy, Slow Burn, Violence, YEEEEEHHAAAWWWW, i was thinkin Freddy's 25 and Larry's 45 idk :0
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:34:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23635420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimik_Gimik/pseuds/Dimik_Gimik
Summary: "Frederick “Freddy” Newandyke stepped out of the carriage and looked around while the stagecoach collected his belongings from the carriage."
Relationships: Mr. Orange/Mr. White (Reservoir Dogs)
Kudos: 65





	1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

**Author's Note:**

> I have worked tirelessly on this AU and I'm very proud to present it to you! I hope you enjoy it. The chapters will be short-ish as I want to make sure it's clear what part of the country they're in during their journey. Anyways! Enjoy!

* September 1850 *

Frederick “Freddy” Newandyke stepped out of the carriage and looked around while the stagecoach collected his belongings from the carriage. He was well dressed well for a long journey, he had on a black ranch hat, a bolo tie, a black coat and black slacks with fine, leather boots. Pittsburgh was bustling, men looking for jobs offered to carry his luggage for him but before he could speak the coach shooed them away. 

The coach fastened his belongings onto one of the horses attached to the carriage then detached it and handed the reins over to Freddy. “There, that should do it,” The coach said. “Are you sure you don’t want my company until your escort arrives, Frederick?” The coach asked.

“No, it’s quite alright, Alfred.” Freddy said.

“Well, if you insist then I’ll be on my way. I’ll tell your father your escort came for you.” Alfred said and smiled.

“Thank you, Alfred.” Freddy said. He pulled out a pretty penny and slipped it into Alfred’s hand in a handshake. 

“It’s my pleasure, Frederick. Good luck and safe travels!” Alfred said and patted his back then he got on the carriage and drove away. Freddy looked up at his horse, she was a beautiful mare with a calico, auburn coat. He stroked her neck. 

“C’mon, Delilah.” Freddy guided his mare over to a less crowded area over by a drug store where he could easily be seen by his escort. He tied Delilah to a post and looked around. There were so many people but none of them struck them as his escort, though he didn’t know what the man looked like to begin with. Freddy sighed and rolled a cigarette, he was supposed to go to Sacramento, California and operate his father’s railroad business out there. He really didn’t want to, he’d rather stay in Pennsylvania and tend to his ranch but he didn’t have a choice in the matter. If his father wanted him to take over his business then that’s what he would do. He lit his cigarette with a match. He didn’t understand why his father insisted on arranging an escort to bring him to California, he could handle himself but he supposed it was a very long way away and he could use the company. He scanned the crowd again and sighed, he turned to Delilah and pet her, she leaned into his touch. “I hope you like California, girl. We’re gonna be there for a long time…” He was nervous, not about the dangers that The West held but about leaving his life behind and going blindly into a new one. “I’m sure I’ll find you a nice pasture to live in when we get there and we’ll find you another mate so you don’t get lonely.” Freddy patted Delilah’s shoulder then dug through his pockets and pulled out a carrot and held it out to Delilah. Delilah made an delighted sound and munched on the carrot, Freddy petted her. He was so distracted he didn’t notice someone had approached him.

“Are you Frederick Newandyke?” A man asked with an accent.

Freddy turned around to look at the man, he had on a brown, wide brim, ten gallon hat that obscured his face. His clothes were tan and dusty but they weren’t tattered, everything about him looked worn and rugged and tough. “Yes and who might you be?” Freddy asked.

“My name is Lawrence Dimmick,” The man tipped back his hat, his face became more clear. “But you can call me Larry, I’ll be your escort to California.” He extended his hand.

Freddy shook Larry’s hand. “Nice to meet you Larry. You can save your breath and call me Freddy.” He smiled. 

Larry smiled. “Alright, Freddy… To my recollection, the arrangement was half up front and the other half when we reach California.” 

“Oh, yes! Of course.” Freddy pulled an envelope out of his coat’s inside pocket and handed it to Larry. Larry took the envelope and peaked inside then stuffed it inside his coat. 

“Well, my steed is over yonder. If you’ll follow me we’ll be on our way.” Larry said.

They left Pittsburgh on horseback and headed West. 

“So, where are you from Larry?” Freddy asked. They were riding at a steady pace, it was a long ways to California and there was no need to rush. 

“I’m not from here, I can tell ya that.” Larry says instead. Freddy looked at Larry, he rode his horse confidently with just one hand on the rein. His horse looked strong with a shiny, black coat and a long mane, interestingly enough his steed didn’t have a saddle, instead there was a decorative woolen blanket. “Are you from Pennsylvania?” Larry asked.

“Yes, I’m from Marienville. It’s about eighty miles South East from Lake Erie if that helps put it into perspective for ya.” Freddy explains. 

“I see. I haven’t been on that side of Lake Erie much.” Larry said. 

“It’s nice but the winters are really harsh, not much can survive in the winter over there; you can grow some potatoes and your livestock might have a better chance if you’ve fattened them up before the first frost.” Freddy explains. “But other than that it’s too freezing to do much else.”

“Do you own a farm?” Larry asks.

“My father owns a ranch that I tend to… Well, I guess I used to.” Freddy sighs. 

Larry watched Freddy, he sulked but then quickly fixed his posture. “What happened?” 

“Well, my father wants me to tend to his business in California. He has investments in the railroads and he wants me to run his operation out there, so no more ranch for me.” Freddy complains. 

“There’s a lotta money in the railroads, where bouts in California are you heading?” Larry asks.

“Sacramento, I think… Yeah, Sacramento.” Freddy says. 

“Hm, well I can tell ya this. There ain’t much out there between here and Sacramento, so you best be on your P’s and Q’s here on out.” Larry says. 

“If there isn’t much out there what am I supposed to be worried about?” Freddy asks with a laugh.

“To start; thugs, wild beasts, and Indians. You don’t want to get caught on their side of the country, kid… I was hesitant to come all the way to Pittsburgh to pick ya up but I can see why your daddy was so persistent about it.” Larry said with a cocky smirk.

“What do you mean by that?” Freddy asks, offended.

“Nothin.” Larry says but he’s still smirking.

“If you have any doubts about my ability to survive in the wilderness I can assure you that I can take care of myself!” Freddy declares. 

Larry laughs. “I ain’t worried about you, kid. You just stay out of my way and we won't have any trouble.” 

Freddy resented that. “Well I never!” 

Larry just laughed harder. They didn’t talk much after that on the way to Lima, Ohio. 


	2. Indiana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Larry was shaving when he heard the nearby sound of something being sprayed into a tin cup. He looked behind his shoulder and was surprised to see where the sound was coming from."

Four weeks of traveling day after day was starting to wear Freddy’s body down. Sure, they ate and slept well for the most part and for what it was worth he and Larry got along just fine. But all this horseback riding was killing him, his rump hurt, his back hurt, and it was frustrating because everyone else seemed to be just fine. And he was so. Bored. 

Freddy rubbed his lower back. “My fuckin’ ass hurts.” 

“There ain’t much you can do about that, kid.” Larry said. “You’ll get used to it.”

Freddy continued to rub his back, he looked at Larry’s horseback. “How come you don’t use a saddle?” He asks. 

Larry shrugged. “The old lady doesn’t like it.” He patted his horse’s neck. 

“Isn’t it less comfortable for you though?” Freddy asks.

“Sure, at first it was but like I said,” Larry looked at Freddy, “You get used to it.” 

Freddy sighed and looked at the open land, they were in Indiana now, the land was flat. It looked like there was nothing for miles, just dry, yellow grass for miles and miles! “Can we stop?”

“Sure.” Larry said. They dismounted their steeds and Freddy groaned as he landed on his feet. He stretched his legs and looked at the great expanse of empty land. 

“I can’t believe there’s nothing out here.” Freddy commented and cracked his back. “Ahhh.”

“Yup.” Larry said and walked away to relieve himself. Freddy continued to stretch, when he was satisfied he approached Delilah and patted her flank then rummaged through the bags on her back. He hid whatever he had behind his back but it was clear that the horses knew what it was, Delilah abandoned the dry grass and sniffed around Freddy, she nudged his shoulder and grunted. Larry’s horse was staring in interest but seemed to not expect to get a treat. Freddy pulled out two carrots from behind his back and held them out to both Delilah and Larry’s horse. Delilah ate from his hand but the other horse was a bit more hesitant so Freddy dropped Delilah’s carrot and held out the other one to the black horse. 

“C’mon take a bite, it’s good!” He took a small bite from the skinny end and held out the rest to the black horse. The horse sniffed it then munched on the carrot, Freddy patted the long bridge of its nose and pet it. “See? I told you.” He looks back at Delilah who finished her treat. “I don’t usually do this,” he whispers, “but do you want another one?” He asks the horse. The horse, of course, doesn’t reply but Freddy pulls out another carrot and breaks it in half, he gives the horse the bigger chunk. Delilah trots over to Freddy and takes the other one out of his hand from behind.

“I’m surprised she likes you. She usually doesn’t take kindly to strangers.” Larry says. 

“She’s a beauty, what’s her name?” Freddy asks.

“I don’t know her name, I just call her The Old Lady.” Larry rubs The Old Lady’s side. 

“That’s quite peculiar, are you married to your horse?” Freddy chided him. 

Larry laughed. “No but sometimes we get on each other’s nerves like we are.” 

They stood around with nothing else to say and Freddy kicked the dirt. 

“Well, we better get a move on.” Larry said then mounted The Old Lady. Freddy mounted Delilah and they traveled on down the empty land. 

The sky was turning orange at the horizon and the rest of the sky was turning into a grey blue as it got late into the afternoon. The sun was bright in their eyes, Freddy squinted and looked away from the sun and it was if luck would have it, he saw a hare peeking out from the tall golden grass. Freddy reached behind him and grabbed his rifle off Delilah’s flank and aimed at the hare that creeped in the grass. Bang! The horses neighed and reared at the sudden loud noise but they were quickly quelled by their riders.

“Y’know how I said there was nothin’ out here?” Freddy grinned and hopped off Delilah. He strided over to where the hare once stood. 

“What was it?” Larry asked from atop his steed.

Freddy bent down and picked up the hare by its ears and held it up for Larry to see. “Dinner!” He exclaimed with a big smile.

Then they set up camp and Freddy prepared the hare to be roasted. In time their dinner was ready and they chowed down on their meal. 

“You’ve got a keen eye, kid. We’d be eating beans right now if it wasn’t for you.” Larry says and takes a bite of his dinner.

“Don’t worry about it, I can probably feed us all the way to California with my hunting skills.” Freddy jokes.

“I don’t know about that but you did good tonight, I’ll give ya that.” Larry said. 

They ate dinner then smoked cigarettes. 

“I miss my ranch…” Freddy says. 

“What do ya miss about it?” Larry asks. 

“I miss…” Freddy thinks. “Getting up in the morning to a rooster crowing, tending to the cattle and sheep. I misss my bed.” Larry laughed at the last bit. “I guess I miss all of it, I put a lot of work into that ranch.” Freddy took a drag from his cigarette. 

“Why didn’t you just tell your old man to fuck off? Yer a grown man.” Larry says.

Freddy laughed. “Haha, well, if you come from a powerful family like mine, you do whatever your father tells you to…” Freddy looked out onto the dark and empty land that blended into the night sky. “I’m his only son so I’m stuck with doing the old man’s dirty work.” Freddy ashes his cigarette then takes another drag. 

“Hm…” Larry takes a drag of his cigarette. “If I were you I’d tell my old man to shove it up his ass.” Larry said. 

Freddy laughed. “That doesn’t make sense coming from you. Don’t you benefit from this?” 

“Well sure, but yer your own person, Freddy. It don’t matter to me where you lay your hat as long as I get paid. I’ll bring you to wherever you wanna go, then I’ll be on my way.” Larry says.

Freddy thinks about it. “I’ll think about it.” He says and takes the last drag from his cigarette then tosses it in the fire. “Well, I guess I better get some sleep.” He gets up and stretches, he looks at Larry who pokes the fire with a stick. “Aren’t you gonna get some shut eye?” 

“No, I’m gonna keep watch. We stick out like a sore thumb out here.” Larry says and rubs his hands together. 

“Alright…” Freddy says and looks around before getting ready for bed. He grabbed his woolen blanket off of his saddle, that was set a safe distance from the campfire, then he walked a yard away and got ready for bed. He got under the blanket and stared at the fire. He thought about defying his father and not going to California, it was a very tempting idea… but what would he do instead? He’s never been outside of the thirteen colonies before and he had no plan other than to fuck off entirely. He looked at Larry. For some reason he didn’t want to leave his company. He was nice, he was funny, and he was so mysterious. Freddy closed his eyes and buried his face into his blanket. He’d figure out a plan in the coming days.

* 

Larry was shaving when he heard the nearby sound of something being sprayed into a tin cup. He looked behind his shoulder and was surprised to see where the sound was coming from. Freddy was milking Delilah and he had a pretty good view. Freddy was on the other side of Delilah so he could see him squat to level with the udder and watch his hands squeeze the milk from her teet. 

Freddy looked up from his work and smiled at Larry. “Hey there.” He says and focuses on his work, he sets one tin cup down and fills another. 

“Hey...” Larry says to him and watches Freddy milk the mare. 

“What? You’ve never seen a man milk a horse before?” Freddy asks, he’s still smiling.

“Nope, can’t say I have.” Larry says and turns around to finish shaving, he hears the milking stop and the sound of boots coming closer till they halt beside him. Freddy settles beside Larry and Larry folds his straight razor and sets that along with his dusty mirror beside him.

“Here, drink this.” Freddy said and held out a tin cup full of mare’s milk. 

Larry cautiously accepted the drink, he watched Freddy take a sip and lick a line of milk off his lips. He looked into his cup and took a sip, he smacked his tongue. “Hm, not bad… It’s sweet.” Larry says. He drinks some more, it’s thin so he chugs it. “Aahhh.” 

“It’s good, right?” Freddy asks. 

“Yeah, it’s purty good.” Larry says and licks his lips, he sets his cup down. 

Freddy savored his milk. “She’ll produce milk for another month or so, so we should take advantage of it while we can.” He took a sip. 

“Mm… How is she faring away from her foal?” Larry asks.

“Surprisingly well,” Freddy looks at Delilah who is grazing with The Old Lady. “I think she was getting tired of caring for her foal anyways… Some mares can handle raising a foal better than others but she never took to it very well… I think she’s much happier as a free agent, if ya know what I mean.” Freddy smiles around his cup and finishes his milk. 

Larry chuckles. “Yeah, I catch your drift.” Larry watches Freddy’s tongue swipe the white residue off his lips. Freddy catches his eye and Larry’s heart beats faster when he smiles at him. He clears his throat and collects his straight razor and mirror and gets up. “We better get a move on.” 

They collected their things and flattened the campground then set out for the day. It’d be another month or so until they reach Illinois.


	3. Illionois and Missouri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I say wudder just like everybody else.” Freddy says and puts the cork back into his canteen. 

They stopped at the east side of the Mississippi River. Larry stopped The Old Lady and hopped off her and immediately dipped his hands in the river, he splashed his face with the water. Freddy joined Larry by the riverbed and took off his hat and splashed the cold water on his face. 

“Ah! It’s cold!” He said and wiped the water from his face with his hand. 

“Sure is, it’s refreshin.” Larry said and flicked the water from his hands. “The current’s too strong to swim in but at least it’s a good source of water.” He cupped his hands and dipped them in the fast current and drank the water from his hands. The horses drank downstream. 

Freddy made a refreshed sound. “Nice, cold, refreshing wudder.” He took his canteen that was slung over his shoulder and dipped it into the river. 

“What did you say?” Larry asked with a small grin that he was repressing. 

“The wudder is nice n’ refreshing.” Freddy said and poured the water out of his canteen then filled it up. Larry chortled. “What’s so funny?” Freddy asks.

“Say water again.” Larry says.

“Wudder.” Freddy looks at Larry like he’s got two heads while he laughs harder. “I don't get it, what’s so funny about wudder?”

“You say “wuh-der” instead of “wah-ter.” Larry explains with a big grin and Freddy pouts. 

“I say wudder just like everybody else.” Freddy says and puts the cork back into his canteen. 

“No, you say “wuuhhh-derrr.” Larry exaggerates. 

“No, I don’t.” Freddy defends himself and stands up. 

“Yes, you do.” Larry looks up at Freddy then turns back to the river to fill his canteen. “Waah-ter. That’s how you say water.” 

“Whatever. Tomato, tomahto.” Freddy resigns himself from the discussion and hops back on top of Delilah. He looks over the great, wide river. “How are we gonna get across this river?” 

Larry stands up and slings his canteen over his shoulder. “There’s a bridge south of here, it’ll bring us into Missouri… St. Louis aint too far from there neither.” Larry says and mounts The Old Lady. 

“St. Louis? I’ve never been there before. What’s it like?” Freddy asks.

“Hmm, well it’s nothing like Pittsburgh, I’ll tell ya that.” They traveled south beside the river bed, heading for St. Louis, Missouri. 

St. Louis, Missouri looked a lot like Pittsburgh to Freddy. It was bustling and there were shops and people about. Freddy watched all the people rush around and go about their day, going to work and picking out groceries and other wares. 

“Let’s pick up some provisions then head out.” Larry says. They pick up some perishable and nonperishable foods, Freddy buys a fishing line and some hooks, he pays for some new socks for Larry. Then they get back on their horses and leave St. Louis. Larry seemed like he was in a rush to get out but Freddy didn’t ask any questions as he followed Larry out of the city. Soon, St. Louis, Missouri was behind them.

“I thought we were gonna stay in St. Louis…” Freddy says to Larry when they have enough room to ride side by side. 

“We’ll hunker down someplace else, there’s too many people in the city.” Larry explains. 

“If I may, it seems to me that you don’t like people very much.” Freddy comments. 

Larry grimaces. “I just don’t like large crowds, I like open space to work with… It’s a lot harder to keep track of yer things when yer in a crowded place like that.” Larry rolls a cigarette from atop his horse.

“Why do you think people are bad?” Freddy asks. 

“I don’t think people are bad, I know they are.” Larry says then lights his cigarette. “It’s a different world out here, people live by a different code. They’ll take whatever they can get their hands on.” Larry explains. 

There was a pause, the sound of the horses’ hooves clomping. “...It must be hard living out here.” He says solemnly. 

“It’s tough but you gotta make do.” Larry says simply and they hunker down in a forest for the night.

Freddy had almost fallen asleep when he heard rustling in the bushes. The horses were starting to get upset so Freddy sat up, he saw Larry’s hazy figure quickly put his boots on and Freddy followed suit, he didn’t make a peep. It was clear this wasn’t a creature creeping about as there was no thud of hooves and panthers didn’t make themselves known when they were stalking their prey. Freddy grabbed his pistol and squatted over his bed. They kept low to the ground and waited for whatever it was to come out of the bushes. Freddy couldn’t see shit so he placed his gun down and carefully unsheathed the dagger from his boot. They waited. When they heard it breach the brush Freddy gripped his knife and waited for Larry to make a move. Bang! The horses neighed and trotted in place anxiously, two male voices started shouting and their figures became more clear to Freddy as they came closer, he leapt up and stabbed one of them in the leg, the man yelled. Bang! The other one fell to the ground with a thud. Freddy’s assailant knocked him to the ground and was wrestling him, some primal instinct came over him and he slit the man’s throat and he shoved the dying man off of him in the same second. Freddy huffed and got up, he heard more feet shuffling and then the area was aglow with the campfire relit. He felt woozy when he saw the corpses, he looked down at himself and saw all the blood on him. 

“Help me get rid of these bodies.” Larry says. He bends down to pick up one of the men’s legs. Freddy let his body take over and he helped Larry move the bodies into the brush a good couple of yards away from the campground. Back at the campsite they shake out their blankets and huddle by the fire and drink from a bottle of whiskey. Freddy looks into the fire. 

“You ever kill a man before?” Larry asks. 

“... No...” Freddy says. The fire crackles, Larry hands the whiskey to him so he takes a swig.

“Well, it’s better him than you.” Larry says. He watches Freddy take another swig then he hands the bottle back to Larry. They’re both quiet, Freddy suppresses a heaving sound then quickly gets up to vomit. He wretches for sometime then he spits and stumbles back to the campfire. He sits heavily on the ground and pulls his blanket close to him, Larry hands him a cigarette.

“Thanks…” Freddy says and holds the tip of the cigarette at the fire and takes a drag. “I’ve slit chickens’ throats, goats’ and pigs’ throats, but I’ve never slit a man’s throat…” Freddy pulls on his cigarette. 

“I guess you can add that notch on your belt now.” Larry says and ashes his cigarette. He pulls the cork out of the bottle of whiskey and takes a drink then hands it to Freddy. Freddy takes a swig and stares at the fire. 

“I’m so disturbed.” Freddy holds his head in his hands, he rubs his head. Larry pities him and rubs his back.

“...The new world ain't for the lighthearted, kid. Ther’s a lot of things out there that want ya dead, whether it be a beast or a man makes no difference…” Larry rubbed circles into Freddy’s back. “But don’t worry about it too much or you’ll drive yerself crazy.” Larry tried to lighten up the mood.

Freddy laughed softly but didn’t reply. 

“You’ll be alright.” He patted Freddy’s back and pulled his hand away. Freddy missed the contact. He hesitated for a moment then sat closer to Larry and leaned into him, he rested his head in the nook of Larry’s arm and chest. Larry awkwardly patted Freddy’s back then put his arm around him. Freddy nuzzled his head into Larry and closed his eyes. “You’ll be alright…” Larry tells him again and rubs his back. 

In the morning Freddy changes into different undergarments and salvages what he can from his old ones. He cut off the cloth that was stained red with his knife, and tossed it in the campfire that heated up cups of water. Larry took his tin cup off the fire and took a sip with a slurp, the heat didn’t seem to bother him. Freddy folded the salvaged cloth and set it aside. He picked up his cup and quickly set it on the ground to cool. 

“My mouth still tastes like vomit.” Freddy made a face and tried to lick the taste off of his tongue. 

“So drink yer water.” Larry said and took another sip. 

Freddy picked up the hot cup and blew on the water then took a sip, it burned his mouth but it felt good going down his throat, it warmed him up. He took small sips until it cooled enough to swish in his mouth and then he spit it out. He sighed and looked up at the tall trees. Brown and orange leaves clung to the branches of trees, within a couple of windy days they would all snap off and the trees would be left bare. They finished their hot water and set out west, he tried to forget about the corpses they left behind. They happened upon a lake and Freddy caught some fish with the lure and hooks he bought. 

“This forest is really beautiful.” Freddy says as he eats the meat off the fish’s bone.

“Yeah, it’s not too bold. I like it.” Larry says and eats the last pieces of meat on his fish as well. The horses munched on some vegetables they had bought at the market in St. Louis as the grass wasn’t too edible around the lake, some reeds were a good, tough meal but they were sparse. Freddy watched the horses meander around the lake, he nudged Larry when he saw Delilah sniff a cattail. The cattail was swaying from Delilah’s strong breath, she took a bite and then fuzz exploded in her mouth, Freddy and Larry chuckled. Delilah blew the fuzz away with a snort and ate the rest of the cattail, The Old Lady joined her and they ate the cattails around the lake. Freddy licked his fingers clean, the fuzz from the cattails rolled along the lakebed. Larry inconspicuously watched Freddy suck on his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ho boy! Freddy just killed a guy! He's a man now.


	4. Unorganized Territory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you think that mankind, excluding Indians, would give up the advancement of technology fer the sake of preserving the land we live on?”

It was late November but it wasn’t too cold, it was just right. Hills rolled across the land with tall, golden grass, there wasn’t much out there but it was more pleasing to the eye than Indiana. 

“Listen,” Larry caught Freddy’s attention. “we’re in the Great Plains now. One thing you better keep in mind is that we’re not alone out here, it might seem like we are but we aint. There are Indians all over the place and they know the hills better than we do.” Larry warned Freddy. “If we happen upon shelter we should take it, otherwise we should travel as far as we can through the night.” Larry explained their plan in further detail.

“Alright…” Freddy looked at the hills.

Tonight there was no shelter in sight so they set up camp on the flattest ground they could find. 

“I hope we don’t run into any savages.” Freddy says anxiously. 

“You shouldn’t call them that.” Larry says firmly. Freddy looks at him confused.

“Why not? They go around and murder innocent people in cold blood, you said it yourself we should be worried.” Freddy argued.

Larry looked at him dead in the eye. “Don’t you think you would do the same if yer people were massacred and driven out of ther homes for the better good of another race? They might resort to barbaric actions when it comes to protecting ther homes but they aren’t savages.” Larry rebuttals.

“Well-” Freddy thought and scratched his head. “I guess I never thought about it that way before.” He fidgeted with his hat. “I just don’t think it’s right to kill an innocent human being. I mean, all these new settlers are just trying to survive and make a living, they aren’t deliberately trying to drive out the Indians.” Freddy argues his point.

“I think that argument is purty weak. Every man tries to make do with what he’s got but the issue goes a lot deeper than that, Indians are natives to the country and as time goes by their race is being wiped out by white folk.” Larry blows out smoke from his cigarette. “But it aint just immigrants, it’s the French, the Spanish, everyone wants a piece of land but nobody wants to make a legitimate, fair deal with the Indians.” Larry ashes his cigarette. “And I don’t think the Indians want to make a deal anymore neither.” 

Freddy absorbed what Larry just said to him and let it sit. “I think there must be some kind of resolve we could come to… I think all men would rather have peace than war.” Freddy rolls a cigarette.

“Everybody says that until it comes down to the nitty and gritty, for instance would you give up your ranch if it meant all men could live in peace?” Larry plays devil’s advocate. 

“Hmm... “ Freddy lights a cigarette with the campfire. “I would if it meant peace on earth.” He takes a drag. “I guess that’s easy for me to say though, I didn’t work very hard to get my ranch since my father gave it to me… Maybe if I was an immigrant I would be more reluctant to give up my life’s work.” Freddy ashed his cigarette. “I dunno, I don’t think the resolve is as simple as trading land with Indians. I mean they shouldn't be killed and driven out of their homes but wouldn’t it be better to trade technology so we can be at the same level and coexist?

“Sure, math ‘n science are important to have an educated civilization and ther are definitely things to learn from both ends but the problem is that Indians don’t want to advance technology if it means it’ll destroy nature. New technology destroys nature. Do you think that mankind, excluding Indians, would give up the advancement of technology fer the sake of preserving the land we live on?”

Freddy rested his elbows on his knees and held his head up with his hands and thought for a while. With new medicine men can live longer, with math and science men could discover the wonders of the world and create technology like; machinery so men could work faster, trains so men could move faster, oil to power the machinery… but there was good new technology too like matches and Braille and the telegraph! While it was all exciting Freddy realized he never needed fancy technology to operate his ranch. Shit, there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do with his own two hands and if he needed a tool its mechanism was so simple that he could make one himself if need be.

Freddy inhales deeply through his nose and sat up.. “I don’t know. I don’t think technology could advance any further without exploiting nature. I think man isn’t satisfied with what he’s made so he has to invent more and more… So to answer your question, no I don’t think mankind would stop.” Freddy frowns at his revelation. “Maybe we were doomed the moment a monkey made a tool.”

“We were doomed the moment the monkey said he wanted more.” Larry amends his “ism.”

Freddy looked over Larry. “So, what’s your deal? Are you an Indian?” 

Larry sighed. “I’m not of their world but I feel ther’s a lesson to be learned from them. We have to coexist with mother nature, if we don’t we’ll destroy it.” 

Freddy thunk and looked at the starry sky, he looked over to Larry when he yawned. “I can take the first watch.” 

“That’d be nice for a change.” Larry rubbed his face, Freddy smiled. “Don’t let that fire go all night. Remember, we aren’t here.” Larry said then got ready for bed. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Freddy rubbed his hands together and looked out at the hills. Larry pulled his blanket close to his body and turned away from the fire. A minute passed and then Larry looked over his shoulder. “Just put the fire out now, would ya?” Larry directed Freddy. 

“Okay, okay.” Freddy put the fire out and pulled his blanket tighter around him, the day might have been warm but the night was cold and the wind was strong. 

*

“I was thinking about what you said last night.” Freddy said, they were traveling at a brisk pace through the plains. 

“About what? I said a lot of things last night.” Larry asked for clarification, he chewed on a tough blade of grass.

“You said that “mankind was doomed the moment he wanted more” and it had me thinkin.” Freddy started. 

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was thinkin’ that there must’ve been some thought process between the moment the first monkey made a tool and the moment he decided he wanted more. It makes me believe there was a chance the monkey could’ve been satisfied with what it had but it decided it wasn’t so, boom, here we are grappling with the same dilemma.” Freddy claims. 

“Yeah, I’d say so.” Larry agrees.

“But I don’t think we need to invent anything else, I think we as human beings should just make do with what we got. I mean, I think medicine is still important to invest in but I don’t have much use for anything else.” Freddy says.

“Hm… So would you say you’re satisfied?” Larry asks.

Freddy makes a thinking face. “Yeah, I’d say so… Ideally I’d want a ranch of my own.”

Larry chuckled, “So you’re not satisfied.”

“Well I’d just want enough to get by, then I’ll be all set.” Freddy says with a smile. Larry chuckles again but he knows it’s not at him. “How ‘bout you?”

“I’d say I’m pretty content.” Larry stated.

Freddy didn’t believe him. “C’mon, there must be something you want.” 

Larry looks at Freddy for a moment. “I’m fine with what I got.” Larry says and guides The Old Lady to trot in front of Freddy. Freddy could’ve swore he saw a smile and it makes his heart flutter, he watches Larry’s back move with the trot of his horse and feels his cheeks heat up. Larry looks over his shoulder and winks at Freddy. Freddy’s face goes red and he looks away, embarrassed that he was caught staring. When he looks back Larry is much farther in front of him. 

“Hey! Wait for me!” Freddy kicks Delilah’s sides and catches up with Larry. 

*

“Y’know, I think The Old Lady would let you ride her.” Larry tells Freddy.

Freddy looks over his shoulder from his piss. “Really?” He finishes up quickly, makes himself presentable and strides over to Larry.

“Yeah.” Larry says with a grin, he guides Freddy over to his steed with hand on his back. “Go on, give ‘er a go.” Larry pats his back. 

Freddy looked up to The Old Lady with starry eyes, he pet her and she grunted in acknowledgment. Freddy leapt on top of her with the help of her strong neck.

“Oof, this isn’t too comfortable.” Freddy readjusts his seat then pets The Old Lady’s neck. “But the blanket looks lovely on you.” He compliments the horse as he pets her then takes her out for a walk. Larry was pretty impressed, he honestly thought Freddy wouldn’t even figure out how to mount her let alone be able to ride her. The Old Lady wasn’t giving him any trouble at all so far which only made Larry more impressed but the whole point of this was to mess with Freddy so he blows a whistle with his fingers, low-high. The Old Lady comes trotting over to Larry without Freddy’s direction. “Wow, your mare is very obedient.” 

“Nah, she’s just loyal.” Larry says then smacks the horse’s flank and sends her into a bucking tizzy. 

“Woah!” Freddy clutches onto the reign for dear life as The Old Lady rears and bucks to eject Freddy from her backside. Larry laughs at the scene. “Wooaah!!” Freddy holds onto her neck and he’s doing a considerably good job until The Old Lady gives a powerful buck and he flies off the horse and lands on the ground. “Oof!” 

Larry laughs and walks over to Freddy and extends a helping hand. Freddy takes his hand and groans as he gets up. 

“You aint too bad, kid. I don’t know many people who can take a buckin’ like that.” Larry says, he’s grinning.

Freddy beats the dust off of his clothes. “Yeah, well, I know my way around a temperamental horse.” He says then cracks his back and grunts in relief. 

“Your mare seems pretty tame to me.” Larry remarks. The Old Lady had settled down by now and was flicking her tail in agitation.

Freddy rubs his back. “She’s pretty tame but she’s a sturdy gal, I’d take her along on hunting trips.” 

“You hunt for game?” Larry asks. 

“I used to.” Freddy stretches his arms above his head. “But I grew out of it, it didn’t make any sense to me. I spent most of my life keeping my livestock alive to harvest their milk or wool so it didn’t make sense to kill an animal for sport… My father never stopped though. He always called me a pansy for it.” Freddy makes a bitter face then spits on the ground. 

“I think only pansies hunt fer sport. They need trophies to compensate fer somethin.” Larry says with a grin. 

Freddy laughs. “Yeah, I think so too.” He kicked the dirt and tried to inconspicuously look over Larry. They caught each others’ eyes and Freddy tipped his hat forward to try and hide his blush. Larry smiled and whistled at The Old Lady but she didn’t come. 

“Awe shit. I think I upset the ole girl…” Larry sighs. 

“Well you did spank her flank, you should go apologize to her.” Freddy says, still kicking the dirt.

“Yeah, I guess I should.” Larry strided over to The Old Lady and tried to make things right with her. Freddy watched, he was amused. When all seemed to be right between them Larry mounted her and Freddy did the same on his own mare. They kept on. 

*

It was raining cats and dogs outside, they took shelter in a farmer’s barn. Freddy traded his horse saddle for board and a couple of extra blankets. Freddy and Larry laid in a pile of hay, it was tight quarters but there was enough room for them, their horses, and the other livestock that lived in the barn. 

Freddy chewed on a piece of hay. “I’m hungry…” He says.

“Well, just don’t think about it.” Larry says.

“Maybe in the mornin’ I can buy some eggs from them.” Freddy thinks aloud. 

“We should be long gone before they come back here, folks don’t like it when strangers ask for too much.” Larry explains. Freddy grumbles and turns on his side, facing Larry. There’s a long pause.

“This hay is itchy.” Larry complains and itches his neck. 

“Yeah, it’s not good quality.” Freddy comments but he doesn’t complain any further. Another long pause. Freddy shuffles closer to Larry and Larry puts his arm around Freddy. Another long pause. Freddy puts his leg over Larry’s body. Larry looks down at Freddy’s face, his breathing is even so he thinks he’s asleep. 

‘This kid sure is touchy…’ He thinks and stares up at the barn’s roof. He tries to quell the heat in his gut and chews on a piece of hay, Freddy’s leg moves slightly and he finds he has to start all over again, but the feeling is impossible to suppress now. Larry looks at Freddy again, his eyes are still closed and his breathing is still even. He hopes Freddy doesn’t wake up. Another long pause, Larry had just decided to try to sleep it off when he feels Freddy’s knee moving back and forth in a slow motion, he looks back at Freddy and finds his eyes are open and they have a hot, longing look in them. They stare at each other for a moment, Freddy doesn’t stop moving his leg and a wet spot is starting to form on Larry’s longjohn’s. Larry slowly takes the piece of hay out of his mouth and stares at Freddy, Freddy sits up on his elbows and looks down at Larry, his shoulder-length, blonde hair cascades over his face. Larry reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind his ear and they meet each other in a tender kiss. Freddy pulls away and stares at Larry, his breathing is hard and shallow. Larry pulls him into another kiss with a hand on the back of his neck. Freddy straddles Larry and brings his wool blanket with him and puts it on top of the other one above him. He bends down and they share a heated kiss, their tongues roll together and Freddy rocks his hips forward. Larry grunts and holds Freddy’s hips, heat generates under the blankets and Freddy rocks his hips with a purpose now, Larry takes their hard cocks out of their longjohn’s. He spits in his hand and holds both of their cocks while Freddy rubs them together. Freddy moans and Larry pulls him into another kiss. In ten strokes they both came and Freddy laid on top of Larry as he caught his breath. Larry wiped his hands off on the hay and rubbed off the hay that stuck to his hands, when his hands were clean he ran his fingers through Freddy’s greasy hair. 

Another long pause. Freddy started to snore and Larry felt himself smiling. He fixed the blankets as best as he could without waking Freddy and drifted off into his own slumber. 

*

Freddy cleared his throat. “So… last night was fun.” He says openly to Larry. They were traveling at a brisk pace through the plains.

Larry turns his head to look at Freddy, he’s smiling. “Yeah, it was.” 

Freddy smiled bashfully and tipped his hat to hide his face. 

“Hey, don’t hide away. I wanna see yer purty smile.” Larry says, if they weren’t on horseback he’d take off Freddy’s hat himself. Freddy tips his hat back with a flick of his fingers but can’t seem to look Larry in the eye. “There you go… Yer a handsome lil’ thing, y’know that?” Larry compliments him. 

Freddy giggles, his cheeks heat up and the blush is obvious in the daylight. He still can’t meet Larry’s eyes. 

“Hmm, purty shy too. You weren’t so shy last night.” Larry teases Freddy. 

“Hehe, well… You’re hard to resist.” Freddy says, his face is still burning and his cheeks hurt from smiling. 

“Am I? I didn’t know.” Larry chuckles. 

“Yeah, you are.” Freddy reiterates.

“What’s so irresistible about me?” Larry asks.

Freddy looked away bashfully. “Well…” He turned back to gaze at Larry. “You’re really handsome and rugged.” 

“Go on.” 

“I like your scruff, I like… your thick hands and your strong arms… And I like your long, curly hair.” Freddy says. Larry watches Freddy’s shy smile turn more confident as he tells him what he likes. “I really like your hair undone.” Freddy admits. 

“Yeah?” Larry lets go of the reins on his horse and unravels the ribbon keeping his hair together, he takes off his hat and ruffles his hair till all the curls are loose and bouncing. “Like that?” He asks Freddy.

“Yeah…” Freddy gazes at Larry and bites his lip. If they didn’t have to keep traveling he’d want another round but alas they had to keep moving. Larry winks at Freddy and puts his ten gallon hat back on. Freddy giggled and looked forward, he could see tall blue mountains in the distance.

Trees started to spring up from the earth as they grew closer to the mountains and in time they were traveling up the mountain where the trees were bare, except for the conifers which showed off their lush, green needles. Snow covered the mountains and stuck to the trees. Freddy looked at the snow and the ice glistening in the bright sunlight, he took some off a tree and ate the snow, it carried a scent of pine. When they had traveled far up the mountains they heard something like the earth rumbling behind them, Larry and Freddy halted and turned around to see what was causing the ruckus. They looked out onto the plains and saw a herd of wild buffalo galloping down a hill and behind them was a large group of Indians on horseback who were hunting the buffalo. They hooped and hollered in a tongue unknown to either of them as they chased the buffalo through the hills. Freddy turned back to Larry with a face of wonder, amazement, and shock.

“It’s a good thing we made it up the Rocky’s in time.” Larry says then turns around and keeps on, Freddy follows him.


	5. Rocky Mountains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy whistles low. “The Rocky Mountains sure are gorgeous.” Everything was blanketed in snow and everything glistened in the sunlight. There were few critters around but in the tall conifer trees you could see Blue Jays peeping out of the green needles. 

Freddy whistles low. “The Rocky Mountains sure are gorgeous.” Everything was blanketed in snow and everything glistened in the sunlight. There were few critters around but in the tall conifer trees you could see Blue Jays peeping out of the green needles. 

“It sure is.” Larry says. On the tall walls of stone there were long, thick icicles that cascaded down the inconceivably thick stone. “Sure is cold too.”

“Yeah…” Freddy says. He looks at his leather gloves and then at Larry’s wool gloves that looked like they were once a meal for some moths. “I have an extra set of gloves if you want them.” Freddy offers.

Larry clicks his tongue. “I’ll be fine for now but when we stop that would be much appreciated… Are you holdin’ anything else out on me?” Larry asks with a grin.

Freddy laughs. “Hmm… No, I don’t think so.” Freddy hums and takes in the sight of the forest. They travel on but not for long, they set up camp in the forest where there’s exposed earth and pine needles bed the ground. They fasten their steeds to thick trees. 

“You should get some wood and start a fire, I’ll handle the rest.” Larry says and collects a few things from his luggage, a hatchet and some twine. 

“Okay… Oh! Let me give you those gloves.” Freddy says and rummages through his own luggage, he finds them quickly and holds them out to Larry. 

“Thank ya kindly.” Larry accepts the gloves and takes off his raggedy ones, he puts on the brown, leather gloves. “A little snug, but they’ll be just fine. Thank you, Freddy.” 

“You’re welcome, Larry.” Freddy says and sets off to collect firewood and flintstones for the fire. When he comes back with a bundle of firewood he sees that Larry is making some sort of wind-breaking shelter from long, strong branches. “Wow! That’s really impressive!” Freddy exclaims. 

Larry looks up from his work. “Thanks.” He looks back at his work. “We’re gonna have to do this every night if we want to survive the harsh cold up here. The higher we get in the mountains, the colder it’s gonna get so the faster you can make that fire, the better.” Larry says and continues to build their shelter. 

“Aye, aye, cap’n!” Freddy does a lazy salute and starts on getting the fire ready. “Are you gonna build a shelter for the horses too?” Freddy asks.

“There’s not enough time for that.” Larry says. “There’s not much time for chit chat neither, so get to work.” 

“Yes, sir!” Freddy laughs and starts getting the fire together. 

In time he starts a fire, he feeds dry leaves into the fire to kindle and when the fire is strong enough he collects some more leaves and firewood. When that’s done he stands around. “...Want me to help you build the shelter?” Freddy asks Larry.

“Nope, you’ll just get in my way.” Larry says and continues his work without regard for Freddy. 

Freddy stands around and thinks, he looks at the horses who are licking the snow. He rubs his chin and looks around, he finds a sharp stone that fits in the palm of his hand. He uses it to take the bark off the trees, he’s collected a good amount when Larry momentarily stops what he’s doing to wipe the sweat from his forehead. 

“What are you doing?” Larry asks him. 

“Collecting bark for the horses to eat.” He grunts as he rips off a strong piece of bark. “There aint much out here for them to eat.” He tosses it on the ground.

“Yer right about that.” Larry says and continues to work. Freddy tosses some bark for the horses to snack on and he collects the rest to feed to the horses later. Then he gets out their pots and collects some snow to heat up into hot water. 

By nightfall the shelter is ready and it was a good thing too because it’s freezing. They huddled close to the fire and ate from cans of navy beans that they heated up prior to eating. The horses ate their bark. When they finished their beans they had nothing to warm them but the fire so they held their bare hands at the fire and rubbed their hands together. Larry shivered. 

“Cold enough for ya?” Freddy jokes.

“Yer damn right. It’s freezing.” Larry blew on his hands and rubbed them together. Freddy feeds another piece of wood into the fire.

When they’re in bed, cramped in the small shelter Freddy can’t help but worry about Delilah and The Old Lady, he sure was cold and he knew that they were cold too. 

“I think our mares are cold…” Freddy says.

“They’ll be fine, go to sleep.” Larry says and tries not to hog the blankets though he desperately wants to. There was no way Freddy could ignore the urge to care for their mares so Freddy got up and put on his boots. “What are you doing?” Larry said, frustrated.

Freddy wrapped his blanket around his shoulders. “I’m gonna give them our coats.” Larry sighed in frustration but didn’t argue it further. He got up and shivered all the way to the horses and put their coats below their blankets so their coats wouldn’t fly away and would keep the horses warm. “There, good night gals.” Freddy hurried back to the shelter and nearly collided with Larry.

“Yer crazy, c’mere.” Larry pulled Freddy closer after he kicked off his boots, Freddy’s teeth chattered as he snuggled closer to Larry. Larry fixed their blankets and held Freddy tight to him as he shivered. The fire was still aglow in front of them but the wind would soon blow it out. Freddy was still shivering though it wasn’t as frantic. “I know what’ll warm you up.” Larry says with a grin.

“W-what?” Freddy asks. Then Larry presses their loins together and Freddy’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “Oh.” They knew each other a second time. 

In the morning Freddy sets out to find them some breakfast other than beans. Larry told him not to waste too much time because they were losing sunlight with every minute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Freddy spotted a nest in a conifer tree, it wasn’t too high up but he wasn’t exactly accustomed to climbing trees. Freddy placed his hat on the ground brim up and put a rock in it to weigh it down. He approached the tree and examined the thick branches above him, he gripped the bark above his head, pressed a foot to the trunk of the tree and boosted himself up high enough to grab a good branch and heave himself up the tree. He made it to the nest with a sweat, luckily the mother wasn’t around. He peeked inside the nest that was tucked between the “V” of two sturdy branches. There were only two eggs… Freddy grabbed one and stuffed it into his coat pocket. He hesitated before he grabbed the second one and put it in his pocket. He looked down below him and realized he was up much higher than he thought he was. Freddy grimaced and tried to figure out how he was gonna get down.

Larry was starting to get agitated when he saw Freddy hurry back to camp with his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Any luck?”

“Yeah. I found two eggs.” Freddy carefully pulled the two dove’s eggs out of his coat pocket and held them out to Larry. They cooked the eggs and shared a can of beans for breakfast. 

Tonight was much colder than the other night, they had made it to the other side of the Rocky Mountains just before night had fallen. Freddy and Larry shared from a bottle of whiskey to try to keep warm. The fire went out with a sudden strong gust of wind, darkness enveloped them and the wind-breaking shelter creaked at the strong force of wind. Larry put the cork back in the bottle of whiskey and set it aside. Freddy clung to him and shivered so he wrapped his strong arms around him and held him tight. It was even colder with his back to the open air but Freddy was so tiny, it didn’t feel right to have him on the outside. The urge to piss had become too strong and was making it impossible to sleep so Larry picked up the bottle of whiskey and drank the last few swigs and relieved himself in the bottle. 

“...Can I have that next?” Freddy chirps.

“Mhm.” 

Freddy was asleep but Larry went in and out of consciousness, he never really slept much to begin with. The wind was howling, the shelter creaked under the abuse, he was worried the shelter might not hold through the night. The wind howled louder and the shelter continued to creak and whine as it was pelted with snow. Some time passed by. He barely heard the horses whinny anxiously, he grabbed the pistol by his head and turned around and squinted. He saw the glow of yellow eyes through the storm and nothing else, the noise in the air became more dense between the wind howling and the horses neighing and Freddy stirring behind him and the loud bang from his revolver. 

The sound startled Freddy and he jolted awake. “What’s going on?” 

“Go back to sleep.” Larry orders. Freddy hesitates but settles down and curls around Larry’s back. Larry faces the open air and he keeps watch in case the mountain lion were to come back. The wind howls and the shelter creaks.

They were coming down the mountain and glad to get back to a lower altitude where it wasn’t as cold. Freddy’s ears were still popping from descending the mountain, he pulled on the tops of his ears to try and alleviate the bizarre feeling.

“...So what happened last night? You’ve been really quiet about it.” Freddy stares at Larry, expecting an answer. 

Larry took a deep breath. “We almost died, that’s what happened. You just count yer blessins that you’re alive.” 

Freddy was shocked. “What do you mean, “We almost died?”

“To be frank, our shelter almost didn’t make it through the night… and a panther almost made a meal out of us— or the mares, I couldn’t tell.”

“Really!? Jesus Christ!” Freddy exclaimed in shock. “So that’s what that bang was?” Freddy asked.

“Uh huh.” Larry says. They ride in silence. Larry takes the lead once more and Freddy is left staring at his broad back, full of more questions. He grips the reins and worries his lip, he feels a great admiration for Larry and he feels indebted to him. He wants to thank him but the moment has passed. They made it down the mountain.


	6. Utah Territory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Kinda, you’re welcome to take a look.” Freddy says.

The land became to look completely different from the forest on the Rocky Mountains. The earth was red and orange, thick blankets of snow covered magnificent rock formations. It was so bizarre and absolutely breathtaking, Freddy had never seen anything like it before in his life. He was at a loss of words. Not only was the sight beautiful but the air had a different feeling to it, it was indescribable and almost unsettling. Freddy gawked at the great pillars of red stone that surrounded them like a great wall, they left a trail of smoke from their hot breath.

That night they ate navy beans and the horses ate the bark from a skinny tree. 

“Does the air feel off to you?” Freddy asks Larry. 

“Mhmm.” Larry hums and chews his beans. 

“Doo yoou know why?” Freddy asks and shovels a fork full of beans into his mouth.

Larry cleans his teeth with his tongue. “It’s hard to explain… Each place has its own wonder but this place, I dunno, it's got this great power to it.” Larry eats a fork full of beans. 

“You think this place has power to it?” Freddy asks, genuinely interested. 

“Sure. When you think about it every part of nature has some kind of energy, like a stream or a tree—“

“Or the sun!” Freddy chimes in.

“Yeah you got it.” Larry says and eats more of his beans.

Freddy was expecting more from Larry but he didn’t explain further. “I still don’t get it.” He says helplessly. 

“I don’t think it’s a thing that you can really “get,” it’s just somethin’ you feel.” Larry speaks with his mouthful. 

“Hmm…” Freddy is just more confused than before. A strong, cold wind blows and he hurries to finish his dinner so they can get to sleep. He wanted to know Larry again but the air was too weird to do anything. Wolves howled at the moon in the valley.

The next day was even more odd, Freddy awoke to a coyote rummaging through his bags. The creature ran off with some cloth that Freddy didn’t necessarily have any use for but it was weird nonetheless. The horses seemed sluggish, which was understandable as they didn’t have much to eat the night before and the journey had been strenuous on them. In these hard times there wasn’t much he could do but comfort Delilah and show her love and affection. 

“Are you still excited to see California, girl?” Freddy talked to Delilah as they traveled. “I bet I’ll have enough land to have a whole apple orchard and you can eat all the apples you want.” He stroked Delilah’s creamy white mane which was long now, all this apple talk made his own stomach rumble. “I’ll find you some grub soon, don’t you worry.” 

“...Yer still set on goin’ to California?” Larry asks Freddy.

Freddy frowned. “I guess so… I might as well, we came this far.” 

“Are you gonna take over yer daddy’s business?” Larry asks.

“Mmm, I dunno. I haven’t given much thought about it.” Freddy shrugs. “I would have enough money after I pay you to get on my feet but it’ll be hard starting a ranch from scratch.” 

“I bet you’ll figure somethin’ out. You got a good head on your shoulders.” Larry offers with a smile. 

Freddy smiles back. “Thanks… It’d be a lot easier if I had another hand on deck.” Freddy looks at Larry longingly.

“I’m sure it would be.” Larry says and averts his eyes from Freddy’s gaze. Freddy tried to not think too much of it, his ears popped again and he wiggled his ears.

They happened upon a great stone structure. The red stone had formed a large arch, through the window of the arch Freddy could see the great expanse of the canyon in all of its glory. 

“Hey look at this!” Freddy shouts to Larry and points to the arch. He dismounted Delilah and walked over to the arch, he ran his hand over the weathered stone, it was almost completely smooth. Larry joined him at the mouth of the arch and they looked out onto the canyon. “Wow.” Freddy whispers. Larry puts his arm around Freddy and they gaze at the beauty of the land in silence. They watch an eagle take off from the ledge of a pillar and fly North. Freddy watches the eagle with wonder, he feels Larry’s hand squeeze his shoulder so he looks over. He frowns when he sees a pained look on his face. “What’s wrong?” He asks him gently, he rubs Larry’s back.

“Nothin…” Larry says short. “...We should keep going, it’s gonna get dark soon.” He says and then walks towards The Old Lady who had strayed far from them to munch on a single bush that was mostly twigs. Freddy loitered in the mouth of the arch for a minute then he went over to Delilah, who was eating the snow. They collected wood from the sparse trees they passed by for the night’s fire.

The sky was indigo when it turned into dusk. They ate from cans of beans that were warm from the fire, the horses had nothing to eat tonight. Freddy couldn’t bear to see them go hungry so he tied his blanket around him as a cape and got up. 

“We don’t have enough food to share with them.” Larry says from his spot by the fire. 

“I’m just gonna give them a little bit.” Freddy says and walks away. He gives them each a bit and then sits back down by the fire and eats his beans. When he’s finished he’s still hungry, his stomach growls. “...I wish we had some more food.” 

“Well, there aint much we can do about that.” Larry says and pokes the fire. It might be the air and it might be because their journey is coming to an end but Freddy can’t stand the tension between them. He wants to say something or lean on Larry but neither feels right, maybe it’s because it’s been a long and hard journey and they were both tired. Larry looked up at the horses who were a bit away, there was nothing around to tie their reins to so they were left to their own devices. “I’m worried The Old Lady might leave in the night.” Larry confesses out of the blue.

“Why do you think that?” Freddy asks.

Larry sighs. “Cus I can’t take care of her right now… She’s a wild thing, if she’s hungry then she’s going to find some other place that has food.” 

Freddy scratched his neck, which had stubble on it. “I gave her some of my beans, maybe she’ll stay…” Freddy tries to comfort Larry with his words. Larry just grunts and wrings his hands together, Freddy looks at the ground. “Maybe,” He looks at Larry. “Maybe if you ask her to stay she will…” Larry meets Freddy’s eye and they share a long look. 

“You think so?” Larry asks.

“It’s worth a shot.” Freddy says. He watches Larry get up and walk over to The Old Lady who is standing close to Delilah for warmth. Freddy watches them for a bit until his throat tightens and he looks away, he leans forward and holds his head in his hands. He wished he had said something different like, ‘I’ll stay if you ask me to.’ He wished Larry would see through his words, he wished that Larry would ask to stay with him in California. His face gets hot and he wipes a tear from his eye and sniffles. He sucks it up and holds his hands out to the fire which was getting dim and they had run out of firewood. Freddy turned his head when he heard a loud fart from the horses, he laughed quietly and shook his head. Larry came back shortly after and sat heavily beside Freddy.

“They’re gonna be fartin’ all night from those beans.” Larry said.

“Yep...” Freddy said. “So do you think she’ll stay?”

Larry sighed. “I dunno, we’ll see.” 

They went to bed. In the morning both of their horses were gone. 

Freddy whined. “I’m worried sick about Delilah…” Freddy said in grief, Larry handed him a can of beans.

“Don’t worry, they shouldn’t be too far.” Larry says. “Whenever The Old Lady’s gone away she always turns up one way or another.” Larry lifts his fork to his mouth but stops when he sees Freddy sulking. “C’mon eat up, we got a lot of heavy lifting to do.” Larry says. Freddy sighs and eats his beans, he didn’t realize how hungry he was until the juice hit his taste buds. He scarfs them down and washes it down with some warm water that carried the taste of chalk.

Freddy was sweating under his coat despite the cold. He readjusted his grip on some of the things he was carrying. “These are really heavy. I guess you really don’t appreciate what you have til it’s gone, huh?” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Larry said.

Freddy panted slightly. “At least there’s all this snow so we don’t have to worry about water.” Freddy says. 

“Yeah, we should be sure to stock up before we reach the desert.” Larry says. 

“This isn’t the desert?” Freddy asks and readjusts his grip again.

“No these are more, uh, highlands than a desert.” Larry watches Freddy struggle with his luggage. “You want me to hold somethin’ for ya?” 

“If you don’t mind.” They slow to a stop. 

“I don’t mind.” Larry says with a small smile. Freddy puts down his things and hands Larry the heavy bag. Larry takes the bag.

“Oof. What you got in here? Bricks?” Larry asks and puts the bag over his shoulder. Freddy picks up his other things. 

“Kinda, you’re welcome to take a look.” Freddy says. Larry makes an interested face and he opens the satchel and his eyes go wide and his eyebrows shoot up. 

“Holy shit!” He looks at Freddy with his wide eyes. “You got gold in here!” Larry looks back into the bag and takes another peek then quickly fastens the satchel. “You had this on you the whole time?

“Yeeep.” Freddy says and starts walking.

“And you didn’t tell me?” Larry asks, shocked. He walks with Freddy.

Freddy grins and shakes his head. “Nope! At first I didn’t know if I could trust you and then I kinda just forgot about it.” 

“You forgot that you had gold on you? You know how crazy that sounds, right?” Larry was still in disbelief.

Freddy made a face. “Yeah I know. I dunno, I just didn’t want to think about it. It makes me nervous, y’know?”

“Yeah!” Larry exclaims. “It makes me nervous too! You better keep a close eye on this from now on.” 

“Okay, okay.” Freddy tries to brush it off.

“I’m serious. This is a lot of gold.” Larry’s face is serious when Freddy looks over. 

“Okay, I get it… Can I trust you to keep an eye on it for me? You’re a lot keener with those things.” Freddy asks.

Larry blows air out of his mouth. “Shucks, Freddy… I guess so.” He fixes his grip on some baggage. 

Freddy’s face brightens. “Thanks, Larry!”

They walk until they come upon a lake where two horses are loitering. “Hey! There’s our mares!” Freddy exclaims and starts running towards them. When he’s close enough he tosses his things to the ground and embraces Delilah. “I was so worried about you, girl!” Delilah whinnies and rubs her face on Freddy. They give their mares lots of affection, they rip some bark off of the trees by the frozen lake and headed West for the desert. 

*

The desert was much warmer than the highlands and they were finally on flat land which meant that their ears weren’t popping anymore. There wasn’t any snow on the ground and the foliage was abundant so the horses no longer needed to go hungry. 

“How much farther is Sacramento from here?” Freddy asked Larry. 

“Oh, about four hundred miles give or take.” Larry said. “We could make it there in a couple of days if we pick up the pace.” 

“Hm. I dunno, I kinda like the desert.”

Larry caught a snake for dinner and a couple of beetles he found. Freddy made a face at the charred food, he looked over to Larry. He was eating the beetles like it was just like any other meal, Freddy looked back at the skewered beetle and cautiously bit off one of its tiny legs. He chewed it slowly, it kinda just tasted like charcoal so he closed his eyes and ate the whole thing, he chewed it and swallowed with a gulp. He opened his eyes and grimaced, Larry laughed at the face he made.

“What? You don’t like it?” Larry teased him.

Freddy was still making a face. “It tastes fine, it's just insightly.” Freddy squeezes his eyes shut and eats another beetle. Larry laughs again. “Hey don’t laugh at me!” Freddy whines with a mouthful of beetle.

“Sorry. It’s just that the face you’re makin’ is cute.” Larry said, he got up and checked on the snake meat roasting. “Snake’s done.”

“Thank God.” Freddy says in relief and cleans his molars with his tongue. 

In the morning it was warmer, the land was still flat and dusty. All the foliage was a deep green color, some tiny critters zipped along the land and hid in cacti as they passed by. 

“I’ve never seen a cactus with my own eyes before. I’ve seen them in encyclopedias but they look a lot more intimidatin’ in person.” Freddy says.

“Yeah, they pack a mean punch so don’t be touchin’ them.” Larry warns. 

“I aint gonna touch ‘em.” Freddy kinda picked up Larry’s accent, it was only natural as they spent half a year together. Freddy took the cork out of his canteen with a pop, he rationed the water, some soft, chalky substance touched his lips when he drank from it. “I think whatever sediment that was in the snow dried up in my canteen.” Freddy said and put the cork back in the canteen and swished it. 

“Makes sense, the highlands are pretty dusty when it’s not covered in snow.” Larry explains.

Freddy made a whining sound. “I’m thirsty…” He looked at the cacti. “I think I read that cacti are a good source of water in the desert.” 

“Uhmm, I dunno what you read but it’s wrong. Cactus juice is no good, it gives you the runs.” Larry explained.

Freddy huffed. “Then what are we supposed to drink?” 

Larry grinned. “I thought you were a skilled survivalist? You can figure it out.”

Freddy pouted. He thought then he had an eurika. “Ah hah!” Freddy hopped off of Delilah and rummaged through his bags. Larry stopped to watch Freddy. Freddy pulled out a dowsing stick from his bag. “I knew I brought this for a reason!” He slowly walked through the desert with his dowsing stick, they walked for about fifteen minutes then the stick bent towards a shaded patch of dirt\\]. Larry dug through the ground with a trowel, eventually he dug deep enough where the soil was moist. They emptied the chalky sludge from their canteens and slowly filled them from the steady trickle of water. “This sure is takin’ a long time.” 

“Yep.” Larry put his arm around Freddy and they waited, the horses licked the last drops of dew off some plants before the sun’s heat evaporated the dew. 

“This heat is making me sleepy.” Freddy said. 

“You wanna set up camp for the day?” Larry asks. 

“Yeah.” Freddy says and rubs his eyes. They set up camp by a large wall of rock, Freddy gave the horses some of his water. They had a meal of insects and a small lizard, there was no food for the horses but they ate frequently during the day so they were content. The desert was still cold at night so they had their blankets wrapped around them, along with their cloaks. Larry rubbed his hands together and whistled. 

“You, uh, wanna trip?” Larry asks out of the blue.

“Trip? What are you talking about?” Freddy asks ignorantly. 

“Like, take hallucinogens.” Larry rubs his nose, Freddy looks at him like he’s crazy.

“Hallucinawhats?” Freddy makes a confused face. 

“I’ll just show you.” Larry pulls a bag closer to him from his spot by the fire. It takes him a while to find what he was looking for, he pulls a folded piece of leather from the bottom of his bag. He unravels it and Freddy leans over to peek inside, there were dry, skinny, white mushrooms.

“Those look like mushrooms to me.” Freddy says. 

“They are but ther special.” Larry says. “When you eat them you see things that you usually can’t see.” He picks some up and puts them in Freddy’s palm.

“Like what?” Freddy asks and observes the crinkled mushrooms. 

“Eat it and find out.” Larry says and tips his head back to get all the shrooms in his mouth, Freddy follows and they chew the tough mushrooms.

Freddy noticed something was different when he didn’t feel as cold and his hunger had subsided and the dark sky seemed to glow blue. He leaned his head on Larry’s shoulder and looked up at the milky sky, the stars slipped across the sky like butter. Larry rubbed his back and they gazed at the sky. The stars twinkled across the sky in waves, some lines seemed to be drawn between stars and the milky light swirled. Suddenly a light swept the sky like an orange flair. “Wow!” Freddy exclaimed. Another one lit up the sky. “Let’s get a better look!” Freddy exclaimed and quickly got up and rushed up the wall of rock beside them. He heaved himself up and found a good spot on the top, it wasn’t too high up, maybe twenty feet high. Larry sat beside him and they watched the meteor shower. Orange flares washed over their faces in waves, light, dark, light, dark. Their light overpowered the twinkling stars and their tails fizzled like a line of lit gunpowder. Freddy leaned into Larry. The milky whey in the sky was dragged by the pull of the meteors as they shot across the sky. Freddy ran his hands through Larry’s soft, curly locks. 

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Larry asks. 

“Yeah…” Freddy agrees and continues to massage Larry’s head. Larry starts to rub Freddy’s waist, they turn to each other and lean into a kiss. The meteors flew across the sky and stars spun with the great gust they left in their wake.

They were back on the ground and making out, the meteor shower had already ended but the sky was still swirling above them. 

“Gimme a sec.” Larry said and got up to get something from his bags. He came back with a tin of grease. Freddy pulled him back under the blankets and straddled him, he pressed their loins together and rocked his hips. Larry dipped his hands in the tin of grease and scooped some out, it had solidified in the cold so he had to work it with his hands. “Take off yer john’s.” Larry ordered. Freddy took off his longjohn’s under the blankets, he kept one leg on. He sighed when Larry’s greasy hand stroked his hard cock. It was amazing, it was something he’s done to himself more times than he could count but right now it felt incredible. He felt his feet tingle. Larry pushed his longjohn’s down over his butt, he lifted Freddy with his hips as he did so. 

Freddy giggled. “Wow, you’re strong.” 

“That’s nothin’ darlin.” Larry says with and strokes their cocks together. 

Freddy bites his lip. “I don’t wanna do that tonight.” 

“No?” Larry stops. “What do you wanna do?” Larry asks. Freddy blushes and buries his head in Larry’s armpit. “What? Tell me what you want darlin…” Larry fishes out Freddy’s chin with his non-greasy hand, Freddy buries his head deeper and mumbled something incoherent. “What?” Freddy mumbles again. “I can’t hear you, darlin. You gotta speak up.” 

Freddy groans into Larry then pops his head out. “I want you to fuck me.” Freddy says with a red blush on his face, he’s all flustered and his hair is sticking to the wool blanket from friction. Larry grinned. 

“I can arrange that.” Larry says. 

They truly knew each other for the first time and became one person, rustling under the blankets below the swirling sky and the dancing stars in the milky light of the night sky. The desert, which had its own silent song, was accompanied by their own music in the throw of their passion. When their love making had come to an end they laid together underneath the blankets and cuddled.

“I didn’t think you liked me anymore.” Freddy confesses to Larry.

“What made you think that?” Larry asks him, his hands are in Freddy’s long hair. 

“I dunno, you were pretty distant in the highlands.” Freddy says. Larry sighs and tucks Freddy’s hair behind his ear. 

“‘M sorry, sometimes my emotions just get the best of me…” Larry admits and rests his hand on Freddy’s waist. “I’m quite fond of you, Freddy.” 

Freddy smiled. “I’m fond of you too, Larry.” He says shyly and they shared a smooch. They gazed at each other, Freddy worried his bottom lip with his teeth. He mustered up some courage. “Will you stay with me in California?” 

Larry went back to playing with Freddy’s hair. “I want to,” Larry starts, he feels bad when Freddy’s face reads that he’s hurt, “it’s just that people don’t like my company over there.” He runs his hands through Freddy’s hair.

Freddy leans up a little on his elbow. “Why not?” He lowers himself back down, he lays on his belly and rests his head in the crooks of his arms, he looks up at Larry. 

“It’s hard to explain.” Larry says. He brushes Freddy’s bangs away from his eyes then runs his hand down his back. 

“Well…” Freddy talks into his elbows. “Maybe,” He picks up his head. “We don’t have to go to California, we can go somewhere else.” 

“It doesn’t matter where I go, trouble seems to find me no matter what.” Larry says, Freddy nestles his head back in the crooks of his arms. 

Freddy pokes his head up again. “...Doesn’t that mean that I’m trouble?”

Larry laughs, Freddy’s happy to see him smiling again. “Yes, I guess it does.” His laughter dies down and he pulls Freddy close to him, soon he feels Freddy’s even breath on his neck and he drifts to sleep. The movement of the sky waves out of it’s dance.


	7. Carlin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They decided to head North East in the morning. They happened upon a cow’s carcass, it smelled and flies and maggots suffocated the rotting flesh. Freddy held his nose as they passed by."

They decided to head North East in the morning. They happened upon a cow’s carcass, it smelled and flies and maggots suffocated the rotting flesh. Freddy held his nose as they passed by.

Not too far from it they happened upon a dusty town, it was very small. Freddy could see a few buildings, the only structures that stood out to him were a wooden arch at the entrance of a town and a humble church. They came to the tall wooden arch that had a swinging sign on it, “Carlin.” Freddy heard the sound of parchment ripping so he looked at Larry who was stuffing the parchment in his coat’s pocket.

“What was that?” Freddy asked. 

“The town’s map.” Larry said quickly and held the reins to his horse. Freddy raised an eyebrow, the town was visibly small, why would a small town need a map? And why would they post it on the town’s sign? Freddy looked at the nails stuck in the structure as they passed by, there weren't any signs showing there was more than one piece of parchment there either. Freddy didn’t push it. 

They fastened their mares to a stable on the side of a convenience store. “Let’s stock up and head out.” Larry said, he put Freddy’s satchel over his shoulder and fixed his hat so it was tipped to hide his face.

“Can’t we stay? I haven’t slept in an honest bed in God knows how long.” Freddy pleaded as they entered the store. 

“We can stay for a lil while then we gotta go.” Larry said. Freddy eyed Larry suspiciously as they picked out some wares. 

“...Is there somethin’ you wanna tell me, Larry?” Freddy asked him.

“No.” Larry said with a short tone. Freddy didn’t believe him but he didn’t push it. They bought tobacco, ammunition, cans of beans, and some matches. They headed for the saloon when a woman standing on the top of the stairs to a building caught their attention.

“Good afternoon gentlemen.” She drawled and walked down the stairs slowly, she fanned herself with an exotic fan.

“Good afternoon, ma’am.” Freddy, ever the gentleman, removed his hat in her presence.

“You boys sure look weary, why don’t you come on inside?” She smiled and continued to fan herself, her frizzy red hair stuck out of her bun and swayed with the breeze she created from the white fan. Freddy opened his mouth to say something then he saw the heads of many women peeking out from a window on the top floor of the building. They all waved and giggled.

“Oh my—“ Freddy started.

“No thanks. C’mon.” Larry grabbed Freddy’s elbow and dragged him away from the brothel. 

“It was a pleasure, madam!” Freddy shouts back and puts his hat back on. “Quit pullin’ me.” He yanks his arm from Larry’s grip. They enter the saloon, men talk over each other, drink, and gamble but all of the ruckus stopped when they walk through the creaking, swinging doors. Freddy rolls a cigarette and looks at all the different characters in the saloon, though he makes a point of not rudely staring. The ruckus resumes as he walks with Larry to the bar and they saddle up on two stools. Freddy lights his cigarette.

“What’ll it be, strangers?” A tall man with a pointy chin asks.

Larry doesn’t take the lead so Freddy pipes up. “I dunno, a beer?” The whole saloon erupts with laughter, Larry keeps his head down. 

“We only serve whiskey n moonshine here, kid.” The tall man says with a laugh. 

“Oh— Then I’ll take two shots, please.” Freddy says. 

“Comin’ right up.” The man says and puts two short glasses on the table and fills them with whiskey. He pushes them towards Freddy and Larry. Freddy pays the man.

“Thank ya kindly.” Freddy says. They knock back the whiskey and Freddy suppresses a face.

“So where y’all comin’ from?” The bartender asks as he cleans a glass with a rag.

“Pennsylvania.” Freddy says. 

The bartender whistles. “That’s quite a long ways away from here.” 

“Yup! We came all the way out here just to try your whiskey!” Freddy says with a smile. 

“Well who woulda thought!” The bartender turned his head to the back of the bar. “Gabe! Come out here!” He hollers then turns back to the bar. 

“What?” Another tall man with a beard and big eyes comes around to the bar. 

“These fellers came all the way from Pennsylvania just to try our whiskey!” The bartender exclaimed. 

“Really? How do you like it? We make it ourselves, we age it in the best white oak we can find.” Gabe explained while the bartender fixed other patrons with some drinks.

Freddy smiled blankly, overwhelmed by the attention he was getting, he only meant it as a joke. “It’s good! It, uh, really heats ya up.” 

“Where did you say you was from again?” Gabe asks.

“Pennsylvania, I’m from Marienville.” Freddy explains. 

“Hey, my mama’s from Marienville! What’s your name, partner?” Gabe asks.

“Freddy.” They shake hands. “I presume your Gabe?”

“That’s Gabriel to you, partner.” Gabriel crosses his arms.

“My apologies, Gabriel.” Freddy looks at the end of the bar where the bartender is glaring at him. He feels himself shrink under his hat. Then Gabriel starts laughing.

“I’m just yankin’ your chain, partner! Ha ha ha! Hey— you gotta try this new batch I made the other day.” Gabriel said and disappeared before Freddy could even agree. 

“They’re quite friendly.” Freddy tries to make conversation with Larry but he just grunts. Luckily, Gabriel comes back with a jug that’s dark in color. He pops the cork out, rests the jug on his shoulder and tips the liquid into a shot glass, he pours a finger. Gabriel sets the glass in front of Freddy, the liquid is crystal clear. 

“What is it?” Freddy asks cautiously.

“Moonshine.” Larry pipes up. 

“You want some, partner? A friend of Freddy’s is a friend of mine!” He says and pours a finger for Larry. “Go ahead, drink!” He encourages them. 

Larry knocks back the drink then slams down the shot glass and bares his teeth. Freddy knocks it back and immediately regrets it, he slams the shot glass down and shakes his head to try and shake off the strong bite. “Hooo-wee!” Freddy exclaims. 

“So, what do you think?” Gaberiel asked, the bartender came over again to hear their thoughts.

“I think it burnt a whole in my throat.” Larry says from under his hat. Freddy was still physically recovering. Gabriel and the bartender laughed. 

“I think they liked it, Lester.” Gabriel said to Lester. “You fellers want some more?” 

“No!” Freddy cleared his throat. “No thank you, that was just enough, friend.” Freddy tipped his hat. Larry nudged his elbow. “I’ll take two whiskeys though.” 

“Yer more of a whiskey guy, huh? Me too. I dunno how he drinks that crap.” Lester says as he pours them two fingers of whiskey in larger glasses. Freddy pays him for the drinks, Larry nurses his whiskey. “So, what’s your story, partner?” Lester asks Larry.

“He doesn’t talk much.” Freddy intervenes. 

“He don’t? What’s wrong with him?” Brown asks.

“He’s just the quiet type.” Freddy lies and smiles. He sips his whiskey, it was hot going down his throat, and he suppresses another face. Then someone approaches them from behind, it was an old, tall, broad man. He had a long, white beard and a big forehead. Freddy looked over his shoulder at him, Larry observed him from under his hat. 

“You’re the beer kid, right?” The man asks. There’s laughter coming from a table with two other guys, they’re presumably his friends.

“That’s right.” Freddy says. The air in the saloon turns tense. It goes dead quiet, the other guys at the table are staring with hard, cold eyes. 

“We don’t take kindly to kids here. This is a place for men!” The man barks and beats a fist on his chest and the two guys laugh again. 

“I don’t see any children here but you and your two friends over there.” Freddy says with an untouchable attitude. 

“Oooo.” Lester instigates them.

The man glares at him. “You got a smart mouth, kid.” The man reaches for his gun. Bang! A bullet whizzes by the man, it barely misses his head and shatters a bottle that stood on a shelf.

A wooden stool screeches and Larry steps chest to chest with the man, he’s shorter than the stranger but his back is as straight as a pipe. 

“Shoot off!” Lester yells and dings a bottle with a fork. 

They all file outside to watch, the stranger’s friends bump into Freddy as they cut him off on the way out of the saloon. Larry shoves Freddy’s satchel at him and Freddy takes it and puts it over his head so it’s secure. Gabriel and Lester stand by Freddy and they watch the two men stride away from each other. Freddy worries his lip. 

“Hey don’t sweat it, Freddy. Yer friend seems like a sharp shooter.” Lester offers.

“Yeah he broke my fuckin’ antique bottle— oof!” Lester elbowed Gabriel. “What’d I say?” Everyone shushed each other as the two men stared each other down, their fingers stretched and ready to shoot. All the townsfolk were watching from the streets and from windows. The wind whipped sand on their coats and faces, Larry’s eyes glowed yellow from underneath his hat and in a wave the glow was gone. Freddy drew blood from his lip. 

“You need a count off?” Larry asks in a deep voice that carries through the town. 

“Naw—“ In a blink Larry withdrew two revolvers from their holsters and killed the man in cold blood. The unknown man falls to the ground and some dust kicks up from the dirt. He holsters his revolvers and spits on the ground. 

“Well, well, well…” Everyone looks to the town’s sheriff, he was a big guy and his boots are expensive with big spurs that clink and clank as he saunters over. “If it isn’t Two Guns Dimmick.” Larry reaches for his revolver but there’s two guns already pointing right at him. The two guys from the table surround Larry and cage him in. “You got a nice price on yer head, for what was it?” The sheriff rubs his chin. “Oh yeah,” He snapped his fingers, “robbin’ a bank in Sacramento.” Larry doesn’t respond. “You feel good about killin’ those men, Dimmick? You got what you wanted?” Still no response. The sheriff glared at him and hit him square in the jaw. Larry’s head reeled back but he turned it the other way and cracked his neck then lunged at the sheriff. The two guys held him back so Larry settled for spitting in the sheriff’s face. 

“You want me to shoot this cocksucker, boss?” A tall man with black hair asked the sheriff.

“No,” The sheriff wiped the spit off his face. “We’ll hang ‘im in the mornin. Throw ‘im in the pen.” The sheriff walked away and a loud commotion erupted, a hanging! The two men pushed Larry into the sheriff’s office. 

“Where’s your black beauty, Dimmick? We’re gonna turn her into glue!” The second man, a chubby blonde guy laughed sadistically. A loud groan came from Larry and then they were inside and a loud commotion continued behind the doors. 

Freddy whirled around to Gabriel and Lester, he was obviously distraught. “You guys gotta help me!”

Seeing a grown man cry like this was unbearable. Gabriel and Lester had taken Freddy in for the night, he kept sobbing and blowing his nose into his handkerchief which was sopping wet. 

“Ya gotta stop cryin’, Freddy. It’s unsightly.” Lester said and rubbed his back awkwardly. Freddy just sobbed harder from that.

“Stop it! Yer makin’ him more upset!” Gabriel scolded Lester. He was pacing around and rubbing his forehead. 

“What am I gonna do?” Freddy sobbed and covered his face with his hands. 

“We need to come up with a plan.” Gabriel said and sighed. Lester watched Gabriel pace, he soothed Freddy’s sobbing. “I got it!” He snapped his fingers in a eurika.

Freddy peeped his head out from his hands. “What?” He whimpered and sniffled, his face was all red and wet and snotty. Gabriel grimaced. 

“Why don’t you wash yer face then we’ll talk shop.” Gabriel said. 

“They sat around a humble dinner table with a hand drawn map of the town. The room was candlelit. 

“Now,” Gabriel talked quietly. “Larry’s here in the pen,” He pointed to a small square in the sheriff’s office. “And Larry’s horse is over by Eddie and Vic’s house, here.” He pointed to another location on the map. “Eddie and Vic are ruthless bastards, if you try to take the horse in plain sight they’ll shoot you dead but— if we were to give them this-“ Gabriel places a twenty five ounce bottle of moonshine on the table. “They’ll be passed out for the whole night.”

“How are we supposed to give it to them? They might think somethin’s up if one of us shows up with a gift.” Freddy asks.

“I’ll bring it to ‘em. I owe ‘em a couple dollars.” Lester pipes up. 

“I told you not to gamble with those thugs, don’t you realize you could be the one in the noose right now?” Gabriel argues with Lester.

“Look, I needed a lil bit of cash to get you those nice boots you wanted!” Lester defended himself.

Gabriel gasps. “Now you’ve gone and tainted my boots with your gamblin.” He turned his head away.

“I’m a sick man, baby!” Lester touched Gabriel’s arm. “C’mon.” Gabriel shook his head.

Freddy tapped his foot. “Look, I dunno what’s going on between you two but it’d be nice if you could make up so we can rescue my friend here.” Freddy says, still anxiously tapping his foot. Gabriel looked at Lester expectantly. 

Lester rubbed his head. “Shucks, ‘m sorry Gabe. I won’t gamble no more, I promise… Except for when my uncle comes to town, you know how fun he is to be around.” Lester says.

“...Alright, fine.” Gabriel agrees to the terms. “As I was saying, we’ll give Eddie and Vic the moonshine, boom, they’re knocked out and you’ll take Larry’s horse from them.” 

“Alright… So what about Larry?” Freddy asks.

“I dunno, we’re gonna have to come up with a pretty elaborate scheme in order to pull that off.” Gabriel taps his fingers on the table. “Sheriff Cabot won't take his eye off of Larry tonight, I can tell ya that.”

They all sit around and think.

“Well if I can’t rescue him tonight then I’m gonna have to in the mornin.” Freddy says. 

“It’d be a close call but if we play our cards right we could pull it off.” Lester says. “The Madam’s got a cellar, she’d let you hunker down there before the hangin.”

“Yeah, it’s right where you wanna be too, the platform is gonna face the town’s sign, her brothel is right by the edge of town. You’ll just have to pay her to hide you and yer steeds.” Gabriel explains.

“For how much?” Freddy asks.

“I dunno, she’s got expensive tastes. Maybe fifty dollars or so.” Gabriel bites his pinky nail. 

“Okay, I can do that. Now—“

“You got fifty bucks on you?” Lester asks, surprised. 

“Yeah, I got all this gold right here—“ Freddy flashes the stash from his satchel.

“Holy Moses!” Gabriel exclaims. 

“Oh my stars and garters.” A tear actually rolls down Lester’s cheek. 

“Put that away, it’s makin’ me nervous.” Gabriel hisses. Freddy ties the satchel closed. Gabriel pinches the bridge of his nose. “Alright, alright. So you have enough money to pay and bribe The Madam to keep her mouth shut, that’s good.”

“Yeah, so I was thinkin.” Freddy holds up his hands. “I’m gonna need a little help from you guys to distract the sheriff and his thugs so I can charge up there. So this is what I had in mind…” They discussed their plan for another half hour, Freddy shared some of his wealth with them for helping him out. Lester will take the bottle of moonshine to Eddie and Vic, Gabriel will bribe The Madam, and Freddy will take back The Old Lady and board her and Delilah at the brothel. So far it all went according to plan.

A crowd congregated in front of the platform, everyone and their mother was waiting for the hanging to commence. Larry’s face was covered by a black sack, he was stripped of his clothes and was standing in his longjohn’s and undershirt, he kept his head down. There was the murmur of conversation in the crowd and then it stopped when Sheriff Cabot approached the platform. He dolled himself up, as everyone else did, he wore leather chinks, his best shirt, and those big boots with those big spurs. The spurs clinked in the air, he went up the platform and approached Larry then removed the sac. Larry’s kept his head down so Sheriff Cabot yanked it up for everyone to see his face, he was roughed up badly, his long curly hair curtained his face once more as he let his head fall down.

“Lawrence Dimmick,” Sheriff Cabot addressed him, “you are guilty of robbin’ a bank in Sacramento, California,” he paces on the stage, “killin’ two men with wives n chil’ren!” Spit flew out of his mouth, “Killin’ our good friend Mister Blue, and sodomy!” The crowd murmured at the last part. “You are sentenced to death by hangin’ without a trial for yer hurrendous crimes!” Sheriff Cabot announced. “Got any last words?” Larry keeps his head down and remains silent. “Very well then.”

Suddenly a woman’s scream ripped out from the crowd. 

“Nobody fuckin’ move or the old lady gets it!” Gabriel screamed, he had an older woman in a headlock and held a gun to her head. The crowd erupted into a commotion.

“Oh my heavens! That’s his own mother!”

“She teaches the chil’ren the good book!”

“I always knew that boy wasn’t right!”

The crowd continued to panic. A horse galloping filled the air, everyone looked and saw what it was. Larry lifted his head to see. Freddy rode The Old Lady, she was galloping at top speed, she snorted under the strain. The commotion grew louder as they barreled through the crowd, knocking some people over and treading on some other unlucky spectators. The Old Lady jumped into the air, Freddy grabbed Larry and cut the noose. The Old Lady landed on the ground and galloped away. Some shots were fired at them so Freddy looked over his shoulder and shot Sheriff Cabot dead where he stood.

“That bastard! I’ll kill him!” Eddie yelled and ran to get his steed, Vic was right at his tail. “Where the fuck are the horses!?”

In the crowd, Gabirel’s mother was beating him with The Bible. “Ah! I’m sorry Mama! Ow!” Gabriel pleaded for his mother’s mercy. Lester tried to intervene but a group of womenfolk gathered around and beat them with their Bibles. 

Up ahead Freddy cut Larry’s restraints. “Shit, I didn’t think you’d come back for me.” Larry says, shooken up and full of adrenaline.

“You thought wrong.” The restraints broke and Larry rubbed his wrists. Freddy looked behind him and saw Eddie and Vic were advancing towards them. “We aint out of the woods yet!” Freddy hands the reins over to Larry and shoots behind him. “Shit.” He whistles with his fingers, high-low. Soon, Delilah comes galloping towards them, when she approaches them a bullet whizzing by makes her veer away. “You gotta—“

“I got it.” Larry says and guides The Old Lady to Delilah’s side, Freddy hops onto her and clutches the reins. Bullets whizz by them again. “You got any extra heat?” Larry asks Freddy. 

Freddy reaches behind him and grabs his rifle from his gear on Delilah’s flank. “Catch!” He tosses it to Larry. Larry catches it and turns around so he’s facing the other way, he aims the rifle while Freddy shoots at their assailants and bullets whizz past him. Bang! He gets Vic in his right arm and his pistol falls out of his hand.

“You mother!” Vic yells, he grabs his other pistol and starts shooting like crazy. Bang, bang, bang! “Didn’t know I was ambidextrous did ya! Mother!” Bang!

“I got that blondie, I’m gonna skin ‘im fer killin mah daddy!” Eddie lets out a war cry.

“Holy shit, these guys are crazy!” Freddy exclaims. He shoots at them. 

“These guys are dead meat!” Larry aims the rifle again and shoots. Bang! Vic’s horse goes down with a neigh, it skids down the dirt and Vic falls off. 

Eddie rears his horse to stall for Vic. “Hurry the hell up!” Vic gets up and they hurry towards Freddy and Larry.

The land whizzed passed them, dirt, bushes, cacti, and short mountains. “In there!” Larry points to the woods in the distance. Freddy turns around and fires at Eddie and Vic again. They strain their steeds to go faster. Eddie and Vic follow them into the woods but they lost them suddenly. 

“Where the fuck are those bastards!?” Eddie yelled. He turned his steed to look around. 

“Their horses are over there!” Vic shouted and pointed. Vic dismounted Eddie’s horse, he ripped his shirt and tied the cloth tight around his right bicep. He withdrew his long revolver and creeped around, Eddie followed him, clutching his revolver in one hand. They creeped towards the horses. Bang! A bullet nearly hit their feet, Vic and Eddie shot into the trees blindly. The horses ran away and Freddy and Larry leapt down from the trees and tackled them. Bang! A bullet from Vic’s gun grazed Larry’s shoulder and left a gash. 

“Ergh!” Larry groaned and knocked Vic’s revolver out of his hand, he had abandoned the rifle as it was out of ammo. They tustled on the ground.

Freddy ran into the woods after knocking Eddie down. They shot at each other then Freddy’s gun clicked. “Shit!” He holstered his revolver and zig zagged through the forest. Eddie shot and chased after him. 

“You’re dead, blondie!” Eddie yelled.

Back at Larry and Vic they were still fist fighting. Larry hit Vic’s mouth which knocked him back, he whistled for his mare, low-high. Then Vic hit him and knocked him back. The Old Lady came galloping over and Larry grabbed a bag off his mare and pulled out a bottle of moonshine. Vic came barreling towards him and knocked him over, they wrestled again.

Deeper in the woods Eddie’s gun clicked so he tossed his revolver and unsheathed a long, dog bone bowie knife. It made a shing. Freddy looked back and halted, he knelt down and unsheathed his dagger from his boot and he rose to his feet. They circled each other, Freddy’s chest heaved and Eddie spun his bowie knife.

“You killed my daddy.” Eddie barked. “Now…” He pointed his bowie knife at Freddy. “I’m gonna kill you.” Freddy looked at that long knife and gulped. Through his peripheral he saw a suitable branch to use for defense, he glanced at it. Eddie charged at him with an overhand stab. Freddy rolled and grabbed the branch, Eddie missed. Freddy rolled back onto his feet and wielded both the branch and his dagger, they circled each other again. Eddie swung his knife and Freddy blocked it with the branch and swung his dagger, he grazed Eddie’s chest. Eddie relayed and swung again he cut Freddy’s chest, cutting the ends of his bolo tie off. Freddy gritted his teeth and hissed, he brought up the branch and hit Eddie’s head with it and created some distance between them. 

Larry was dragging Vic away from his pistol by his ankles. 

“Yer fuckin’ persistent!” Vic kicked Larry’s chin and he fell back and groaned. Vic stumbled to his feet and tripped on the way to grab his gun.

Eddie shook off the attack and gritted his teeth, he let out a loud groan and swung overhand. Freddy blocked the attack with the branch and the knife got stuck so Freddy pulled back the branch and yanked the bowie knife from Eddie’s hands and tossed it away. Freddy lurched onto Eddie and knocked them to the ground. 

Larry was staring through the barrel of a gun when he mustered up the strength to get up. Vic stood defiantly over him and huffed, “It’s a shame I didn’t kill you sooner, but hey, it’s been fun.” Vic laughed and pulled the trigger. Click. Vic’s smirk dropped and went up on Larry’s face. He grabbed the bottle of moonshine beside him and hit Vic with a right hook.

Eddie grabbed Freddy’s wrists and rolled them over so he was on top. Eddie pushed the dagger to Freddy’s throat, Freddy pushed back with all his might, they barred their teeth and groaned hard. 

Larry pulled the cork out of the bottle with his teeth and pulled Vic’s bandana over his face. “This,” He poured the moonshine on Vic’s face, essentially waterboarding him, “is for hammering nails under my fingernails, you sick fuck!” Larry throws away the bottle and pulls off of Vic and staggers back. He pulls a matchbox from his john’s and shakes one into his hand, he strikes it and throws it on Vic, who had just pulled his bandana down. A fire erupted on Vic and he was engulfed in flames, he got up and ran around screaming bloody murder.

Freddy struggled against Eddie, the dagger was pressing hard against his neck, it stung and he could feel it cutting his flesh. The scream was audible from where they struggled, it distracted Eddie. Eddie looked behind his shoulder and saw Vic’s body engulfed in flames. Freddy pulled up all the guts in him and pushed back.

Eddie yelled, “Vic—“ The dagger pierced Eddie’s throat, he gurgled and fell off of Freddy’s body with a thump. Freddy’s chest heaved as he caught his breath, he tried to lean up on his elbows but he fell back. He looked up and panted, the needles on the trees swayed with the breeze, the screaming stopped and the crackle of fire was all that was left. Sunlight filtered through the needles and speckled the earth. Larry staggered over to him and fell by his side. He helped Freddy sit up, they both huffed and panted, Freddy hissed as salty sweat ran over his wound, he tore open his shirt to let his chest breath. 

“That,” Freddy huffed. “That was crazy.” Freddy said and hissed in pain. 

“Maybe you outta lay down.” Larry lowered him to the ground and brushed his dirty hair away from his eyes. 

“Jesus Christ…” Freddy said breathlessly and wiped the sweat from his brow. Larry examined his wound.

“You need stitches but you’ll be alright.” Larry says and strokes Freddy’s face. “You’ll be alright." He leans down and presses a chaste kiss to Freddy’s lips. There was a sound of hooves clomping on the earth, Larry looked behind his shoulder and it was those two guys from the saloon coming by on one horse. 

“Jesus, you guys look like shit.” Lester says in shock. Larry’s face was swollen, his lip was busted and his longjohn’s were tattered, Freddy was in pain and bleeding but he raised a fist and flipped Lester off from where he laid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Freddy, Larry, Gabriel, and Lester set out to find their own patches of land which they would call home. Freddy and Larry run their own ranch and Gabriel and Lester open up their own distillery, they're neighbors and annoy the shit out of each other. Where their homes and business once flourished there is now a highway.


End file.
